"nightline." then, next friday -- >> finish this sentence for me. sarah palin is -- >> a reveali ining "20/20.." >> sarah palin next week. and thanks for watching tonight. i'm elizabeth vargas. for all of us at "20/20" and abc news, we're in touch, so you be in touch, all the time, online, at abcnews.com. have a great weekend. >> concerns as high tide nears. it is placing a maryland neighborhood in serious jeopardy. let's start with the alert in calvert county. a number of homes are in danger of falling into the chesapeake bay. john has the latest on that tense situation out there. john? >> well, tense indeed, leon.

folks who live here on beach drive look out their windows and see a beautiful beach. tonight they see the chesapeake bay. residents have come together to create hundreds of sandbags, trying to avoid a serious problem, but with high tide in about an hour, many here say it is not looking very promises. >> these are the signs of exhausting and frantic race against time. an entire community battling remnants of a powerful morester. >> it is frightening because you could be losing your house. >> others worked quickly to create barriers. but the tide is proving to be too much. the surf creeping closer to homes. >> i think we are all in a state of shock. i don't think we expected things to be this bad.

it is november. we felt good about getting through the hurricane season this year. >> these photos show a tranquil 40 feet of beach. tonight the chesapeake is pounding sides of homes. >> it is pretty bad. it is worse than i expected. when we had isabelle through here, it pushed sand up on us. here it has taken the sand away. >> local fire departments are assisting, but residents say they need more help. >> we have been asking all afternoon for the national guard. we have had no outside help whatsoever to help us bag sand. >> officials with maryland's emergency management and the sheriff's office are out here assessing the situation. again, high tide is about an hour. back in 2003 during hurricane isabelle, then governor robert ehrlich deemed this area a disaster area. their appeals tonight have gone unanswered. live in calvert county, john

gonzalez. >> thank you. in addition to the problems in calvert county, conditions are rough in the delmarva peninsula. much of the beach has been washed out to sea. the situation is not any better on the new jersey coast. this is from seabright community. these streets are filled with knee deep water. new jersey officials plan to wait until monday to send out crews to determine beach rogues. in virginia, the kinds calmed down enough in virginia beach and hampton roads area for a helicopter to get out and capture these images of the damage. this more easter is being bmed for four traffic-related storm deaths. the governor will tour the areas hardest hit tomorrow. our storm watch continues with doug hill, who is tracking this. >> improvements are on the way,

but not fast enough for the folks in calvert county. let me take you to live super doppler 7 radar in the weather center because for the first time in a few days, not much rain at all. we have some drizzle and mist, but no substantial rain, nor is any expected. our storm scan tracks the core of the rain, but it is well to the north coming in torts new jersey, new york, long island than a the coast line. a for you showers popping up down here. how about winds? let's go to the weatherbug to track live wind reports. northeast at 11 in bridge, over on the bay. winds still in the 20-25 miles per hour range with higher gusts and windier along the beaches. that will slowly start to slacken tonight and tomorrow mork, but it is going to take a while for the bay and ocean waters to calm down. >> if you want to track the

storm over the weekend and get the latest on the damage left behind, log on to wbaltv.com. doug is going to be back in about 14 minutes.com. tonight we are learninmore about a traffic fire that ended in gunfire. police shot and connect a suspect in huntington. richard has more from the scene. >> this was called in as a routine traffic stop. it happened at this section road behind me. this was an ordinary stop, but at some point the officer felt compelled to pull out his gun and shoot the driver. >> much of friday night. >> a man got killed. i was like oh, my goodness. it was really sad. >> for eight hours, investigators collected evidence. one side of the road was shut down. >> about 5:00, it was in sane, nothing moving.

>> the police presence followed a 12:30 p.m. traffic stop that escalated into gunshots. police say an unidentified officer fatally wounded the driver of the s.u.v. officers waved him back. >> engine running, tires spinning smoke generated. my instinct was to go out and see what aid i could render into the occupant. the vehicle had crashed into the small sudan about 300 zards from the traffic stop. police aren't saying why the man was shot or why he was pulled over in the first place. >> but just for a traffic to have all this chaos, it has to be a big deal. >> joe williams, the witness in our story says he was bitten bay one of three dogs that jumped out of the s.u.v. questions continue about why

this man was stopped and shot by police. abc 7 news. >> thanks, rich. tonight the man dubbed as the mastermind of the september 11 attacks will be tried in a new york courtroom. we joined now on this cynne' simpson. >> prosecutors plans to seek the dealt penalty in manhattan. that means mohammed and the other men will be transfered from guantanamo, cuba. the decision is a key step for the obama administration to eventually close that facility, but the plan is drawing criticism from republicans. mitchell mcconnell says the trial puts americans none yell at risk. others are worried the suspects' attorneys will try to portray their clients as victims of government torture. cynne' simpson, abc 7 news. >> in a judge has his way, former louisiana congressman william jefferson will spend the next 13 years hand bars.

he sentenced the democt earlier today. he was caught on tape accepting $100,000 in cash. much of that money was found stashed in his freezer. he plans to appeal. new at 11:00, president obama tries to build a bridge with china while talking about north korea during a speech in japan. the president said a prosperous china is a source of strength to all notions. he said the world will not be cowed to north korea's threat. could the pattle over the school system firings caust the d.c. mayor his job? he gave what some would call a surprising answer. new at 11:00, jennifer donelan is outside d.c. school he quarters. she has answers on who may be to blame. >> at the bloomberg wasngton summit, d.c. schools chancellor said that for the mayor, the end game is fixing d.c. schools no

matter what happens at election time. we spoke with one of the teachers who was recently fired, and she said because of the way itas handled, it could end up hurting the mayor at the polls. >> how responsible would you feel if the mayor were not re-elected? >> very responsible. you know, when he hired me into this job, he told me that this was his number one priority. >> a candid response from the d.c. schools chancellor, whose recent decision to fire more than 200 teachers several weeks into the school year led to protests. >> there were movements forward that we felt were necessary and were not always things that would guarantee harmony among adults. >> the execution was very faulty, and that is what has upset the parents. >> this former first grade teacher says she is still in shock after she is let go.

her reaction. >> if i am not re-elected, then we would go down in history always the only administration that made every decision in the best interests of children. >> was it? was taking teachers away, was that in the best interest of any child? >> now we also spoke with the president of the d.c. teacher's union, who said the chancellor cannot be held solely responsible for the mayor's re-election, saying that he will be judged by his own actions, but did say the firing of teachers was and still is, quote, very disruptive to students. report be live, i am jennifer donelan, abc 7 news. >> coming up on abc 7 news at 11:00, the original maverick doctor >> the new maverick tells all. the family of a korean war veteran heart broken after an urn is stolen. where that case stands now. >> i think it is crazy because

they are giving tickets to people while the meter is broken. >> he is not alone. 7 on your side tonight with an investigation. broken meters across the

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> the burial for a retired army colonel went on today at arlington national cemetery even though the urn containing his ashes was stolen. the urn was stolen out of the family's van on the national mall yesterday. the devastated family is pleading with anyone with any information on this case. 7 is on your side today with an investigation targeting parking meters in the district. we discovered contractors drivers getting tickets while the contractor who is supposed

to fix them is getting money when you get a ticket. this is information you need to know. >> hundreds of outdated d.c. parking meters don't bourque. >> the problem is so bad. >> i would like to report a broken meter. >> that the district fielded 142,000 broken parking meter calls alone. making the number one city complaint. >> the mayor takes it very seriously. >> we have learned that thousands of drivers are getting tickets, not because they lingered past the limit, but due to the meters the contractor has not fixed. >> that is stealing. >> a company called a.c.s. gets paid millions to fix them. but they racked up $232,000 in fines for failing to do repair

work. >> when i came in in february, i was not happy with their performance. >> a.c.s. made hawaiian additional $5 million this year because it also as the contract for processes tickets. every time there is a ticket from a broken meter, a.c.s. gets $2. an audit calls this a conflict of interest. >> we put what change we could get in it, and it didn't register but a few minutes. >> when he returned from the mall, he had a ticket. there is a software glitch that sometimes corrects a broken meter after you leave. if an officer walks by then, you owe the city >> 25. >> you have to call in the meter's number and you fight to get the ticket thrown out. john did exactly that. this year alone nearly 8,000

broken meter ticket claims were dismissed. countless other drivers paid up not knowing any better. while the contractor who contributed to this confusion walked away with millions. >> they charge people tickets and make more money than fixing the meters. >> a.c.s. refused to talk to us on camera, but a spokesperson says they e working with city officials to fix the software glitch. an official said if the software probables persist, the city will consider breaking its contract with them. >> they hope to phase out single space meters by 2010 and hope to replace them with more user-friendly. >> john mccain is taking the high road in addressing comments about him and his running mate

sarah palin's new book. >> of course we may have done some things differently, but i am proud and honored by the pele working for us and having sarah palin as a running mate. >> in her book she detailed tensions between her advisors and how she was bottled. she was talking about her book on oprah here on abc 7. we had a more easter and it is finally out of here. >> on its way. inching along the coast of north carolina, but it is keeping pressure gradient. so it will be slow progress over night along the bay. other places away from the way, the wind will more noticeably go down. the seas down all of a sudden settle down. it will be midday tomorrow before we start seeing are improvement in the ocean.

the storm has moved out that the steady rain is removed to our north and northeast. a few light patches of rain in the bay. our weatherbug network lists a couple of things. this is a random sample of communities in the viewing area. checking the rain and wind, still a little built of a breeze. we are at 50 degrees. .32 inch of rain. 50 degrees in leesburg. the winds at four miles an hour and at national park, the winds at seven as far as rain fall goes, 2 1/2 informs up there. and fairfax, over inches. when you look down in southern virginia, six, seven or eight informs of rain fell in those laces. 55 and 49 at ragan international. we have had .33 inches of rain

officially today. we have warnings for flooding in calvert, st. charles. that is because of the winds and the high tide cycles. other areas on tidal rivers, you are under an advisory for coastal flooding at times of high tide. temperatures warmer tomorrow than today. all part of the process of the storm moving out. you see going rotation of the clouds during the day. still moisture coming on shore, but the bulk of the rain is for the north and west. we may see some sunshine or brightening of the sky tomorrow, but sunday will be the day with the big improvement. it is all in the timing, how long for the high to move out and how long for the more easter to move out.

let's take a look at the express forecast for saturday. some low clouds and drizzle in the morning, then skies will brighten. kind of 50/50 that we will see sun. much better weather comes on sunday as we head to the upper 60's. sunday and monday will be comfortable with sunshine. >> that is the word we all want to hear. coming up, honoring patriots who of committed their lives to fur therg the security of our nation of committed their lives to fur therg the security of our nation and wo

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>> tonight on night line, go deep into the heart of the mexican jungle and find out why some believe the world will end in 2012. the national defense foundation -- university foundation is honoring general david petraeus. he was awarded the patriot award tonight. the event was attended by a number of v.i.p.'s, including a number of ambassadors. senator john mccain participated by satellite as well as troops from iraq. i was the master of ceremonies and was honored to be in the presence of so many people i wish i could be when i grew up. >> not quite grown yet.

>> oh, you noticed. >> let's talk basketball. they tipped it off tonight, college basketball. local teams heading to the hard court. in college park, picking up where they left off last season. we will run county the s

>> college basketball tipped off in the d.c. area tonight. most of the local teams in action, including maryland at home against charleston southern. second half, vasquez with the steal. a behind-the-back pass. maryland cruising. he said that was a walk. >> looked like it to me. >> he drives the lane, the no-look, over-the-shoulder flip. good start for maryland, beating charleston southern 89-51. the g men dominated the boards taking on tulane. there is julian vaughn put the put back. the hoyas win 4-58. george mason holding liberty. this was a tight one. andre cornelius led the patriots with 17 points.

george mason starts off the season on the rightoot. they win 76-72. american falls to st. francis 65-61. howard falls hard to indiana 83-60. virginia, no trouble with long wood, and navy turned back by radomskiford 76-65. the capitals taking on the wild tonight at verizon center. the caps on a two-game win strees. morrison goes to work. over to mike green. shoots and scores. we are tied at 1-1. here is your game-winner. the rookie, he gets it to brian, he shots and scores. the caps had an empty-netter and win 3-1. friday night, modern technology, that woman shooting the game with a webcam so the football coach can watch his team's action from the hostal.

pugh has missed most of this season following a stroke. riggins breaks true and he is gone, coming right at us. keep on coming. 69 yards for the score, heyfield wins 34-6. the maryland terrapins football team in bad need of a win. they host virginia tech tomorrow at 1:00. >> good deal. go heyfield. we are right back after t

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>> we have splg to look forward to this weekend. >> slow improvement in the winds and waves overnight and better skies over the weekend for the whole area. >> that's it for us. whole area. >> that's it for us. night line is next.

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